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Interview With Elliot Sadler

Aired February 20, 2004 - 14:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's been a fast start for NASCAR's Elliot Sadler. He's finished top 10 at Daytona last week, and he did it without yours truly. I wish I could have been with him. Elliot took me cruising not so long ago. Now, since then, I've received about 10 speeding tickets, but let's not get sidetracked here.
We like to keep in touch with our friend Elliot Sadler, show him our support. He joins us now live from Rockingham, North Carolina, scene of Sunday's Subway 400. Hi, Elliot.

ELLIOT SADLER, NASCAR DRIVER: How are you doing today.

PHILLIPS: Good. All right. I know you're a little focused here. You tell me you're in the qualifying focus. Tell me what's on your mind?

SADLER: Friday is probably the hardest day of the week for most NASCAR drivers. You've got to get qualified, you want a good spot. So we just finished our final practice. We have qualifying here in probably about 30 minutes. So you got to get the zone going. You've got to feel good, make sure you're in the mood and you know, feeling, you've got to the drive some laps in your head before you start the car up, all that stuff. So that's kind of the zone I'm in right now.

PHILLIPS: That's OK. You stay in your zone. I'm going to keep you in that zone, and I want to take you back to a fun zone a number of days ago. All right, I'm flipping through the papers, Elliot, after the Daytona 500, looking for you, of course, because you're our favorite, and I see these pictures of President Bush surrounded by all these drivers, and then there you are in the back, the tallest guy in the bunch. You know, no one sees the president in this picture, they see you. I'm just wondering, did he come up to you and say, hey, I need you on my security detail?

SADLER: He did come up to me. He didn't really say that they need me on security. I think he had plenty of those guys with him. But it was pretty cool for him to be there, to be able to meet him on that type of occasion, to spend some time with him was pretty neat. I was really proud of him to come out and support NASCAR and support a lot of fans of our sport, and I was just glad to get to meet him.

We were all kind of standing in line waiting our turn, but we all got to spend some good time with him. So that was pretty cool, that's probably a moment I'll always remember.

PHILLIPS: So what did you say to the president of the United States, Elliot?

SADLER: You know, you kind of run that through your head, what exactly are you supposed to say to the president of the United States? But I shook his hand and said, hi, I'm Elliot Sadler and I'm a big, big fan. And I think he appreciated that. I think a lot of the guys said the same things I did. So we just all told him we were big fans of what he was doing and how safe he's keeping our country. And that's pretty much the way we left it. I didn't really -- I didn't know how to make small talk with him. I kind of -- I kind of flustered on that a little bit.

PHILLIPS: You're flustered? That surprises me. So you're going to vote for him?

SADLER: Oh, yeah, definitely. Yeah, I'm a big -- I am a Bush supporter, yes.

PHILLIPS: OK. Well, all right, let's talk about the Sunday's Subway 400. You know, this track tends to favor veterans, I guess you could say, but some of those veterans that have done well on that track, you were right up on them in the Daytona 500.

What do you think? After the Gatorade win, you know, you were up there in the heap at Daytona. How do you feel about this weekend?

SADLER: I feel pretty good. You know, we finished ninth here this race last year. My teammate actually won it. We got some good momentum coming from Daytona.

This is a veteran's track. You've got to learn how to save your tires as much as you can. They go away with you in a hurry. I was lucky enough to win a Busch race here a few years ago, 1998, so I think I know this track pretty well. I think we'll be in good shape. We're looking forward to having fun, one, but two, we've got one of the Morris (ph) people family coming in this weekend, so we need to put on a good show for her. So we feel a little tense right now, but we think we'll do fine.

PHILLIPS: Oh, I think you will too. Daytona 500, I noticed when Little Lee (ph) won, and you know, you were cruising right past him and you gave him a thumbs up, taking a look at what he did, what his father did, sort of the connection, I can't imagine that anyone was too bummed out that he won the race, just looking at the whole historical factor there. How did it kind of move you guys in a way?

SADLER: Yeah, I think it was, one, great for the support for him winning that race, you know, to carry on the Earnhardt legacy name at that track. But two, I think his guys deserve it. Last year he probably had the best car in the Daytona 500, had a battery go dead on him and kind of cost him a few laps. So for those guys to kind of come back and set the precedent again, the standard was good for their team. I mean, they had the fastest car pretty much all week. They deserved to win it. They've really raised the bar on that style of racing, the restrictive plate racing. And Junior just does a great job. He just understands the drafting, just like his dad did. He's probably five or six years ahead of the rest of us on knowing kind of what's going on.

I mean, his team definitely deserved it, and we've just got to go to work a little more when we go back. Me as a driver and my team, just work a little harder when we go back, maybe we'll have something for them next year.

PHILLIPS: All right, well, we have a little idea for you coming up in this next race. I mean, how is your sponsorship going? You feel pretty good?

SADLER: I think it's going great. I think it's going good. The guys keep me in focus, they keep me in M&M. So they pretty much take care of me. What kind of ideas have you got?

PHILLIPS: Well, you know, we were sort of tossing this around, you know, we had Jeff Burton with us a few weeks ago. You know, he's been kind of struggling with the sponsorship thing. You know, we suggested maybe a LIVE FROM... logo on his car. But then we were kind of checking out -- we're big M&M lovers here, so what do you think about this? We thought maybe, you know, a little K&M sponsorship? Miles and me there on the jersey? Does it work for you?

SADLER: You know what, I saw a picture of it. You know, you look pretty sexy on the front of the uniform like that.

PHILLIPS: Oh, goodness.

SADLER: That was pretty cool. We might have to work on that. I think we might pull some strings and get you on the front. I think you look good.

PHILLIPS: Outstanding. Now that I'm blushing, thank you very much. You're going to take me for another ride in that fast car of yours one of these days?

SADLER: I'll be glad to. I'm sorry that you got the speeding ticket since then, but actually, a little tip -- you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I've been running a lot better since then. So I'm sorry it's not going so good for you. It's working out better for me. We've got to do it again, though.

PHILLIPS: You've got a deal. And thanks for listening to the tips. All I told you to do was go faster, Elliot. That was it.

SADLER: She did. Go faster, turn left. That's probably the best tip I ever got.

PHILLIPS: We're going to be watching you on Sunday. We wish you the best of luck.

SADLER: Thank you so much. I appreciate you having me.

PHILLIPS: It's a pleasure, Elliot, always. Elliot Sadler.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired February 20, 2004 - 14:39   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's been a fast start for NASCAR's Elliot Sadler. He's finished top 10 at Daytona last week, and he did it without yours truly. I wish I could have been with him. Elliot took me cruising not so long ago. Now, since then, I've received about 10 speeding tickets, but let's not get sidetracked here.
We like to keep in touch with our friend Elliot Sadler, show him our support. He joins us now live from Rockingham, North Carolina, scene of Sunday's Subway 400. Hi, Elliot.

ELLIOT SADLER, NASCAR DRIVER: How are you doing today.

PHILLIPS: Good. All right. I know you're a little focused here. You tell me you're in the qualifying focus. Tell me what's on your mind?

SADLER: Friday is probably the hardest day of the week for most NASCAR drivers. You've got to get qualified, you want a good spot. So we just finished our final practice. We have qualifying here in probably about 30 minutes. So you got to get the zone going. You've got to feel good, make sure you're in the mood and you know, feeling, you've got to the drive some laps in your head before you start the car up, all that stuff. So that's kind of the zone I'm in right now.

PHILLIPS: That's OK. You stay in your zone. I'm going to keep you in that zone, and I want to take you back to a fun zone a number of days ago. All right, I'm flipping through the papers, Elliot, after the Daytona 500, looking for you, of course, because you're our favorite, and I see these pictures of President Bush surrounded by all these drivers, and then there you are in the back, the tallest guy in the bunch. You know, no one sees the president in this picture, they see you. I'm just wondering, did he come up to you and say, hey, I need you on my security detail?

SADLER: He did come up to me. He didn't really say that they need me on security. I think he had plenty of those guys with him. But it was pretty cool for him to be there, to be able to meet him on that type of occasion, to spend some time with him was pretty neat. I was really proud of him to come out and support NASCAR and support a lot of fans of our sport, and I was just glad to get to meet him.

We were all kind of standing in line waiting our turn, but we all got to spend some good time with him. So that was pretty cool, that's probably a moment I'll always remember.

PHILLIPS: So what did you say to the president of the United States, Elliot?

SADLER: You know, you kind of run that through your head, what exactly are you supposed to say to the president of the United States? But I shook his hand and said, hi, I'm Elliot Sadler and I'm a big, big fan. And I think he appreciated that. I think a lot of the guys said the same things I did. So we just all told him we were big fans of what he was doing and how safe he's keeping our country. And that's pretty much the way we left it. I didn't really -- I didn't know how to make small talk with him. I kind of -- I kind of flustered on that a little bit.

PHILLIPS: You're flustered? That surprises me. So you're going to vote for him?

SADLER: Oh, yeah, definitely. Yeah, I'm a big -- I am a Bush supporter, yes.

PHILLIPS: OK. Well, all right, let's talk about the Sunday's Subway 400. You know, this track tends to favor veterans, I guess you could say, but some of those veterans that have done well on that track, you were right up on them in the Daytona 500.

What do you think? After the Gatorade win, you know, you were up there in the heap at Daytona. How do you feel about this weekend?

SADLER: I feel pretty good. You know, we finished ninth here this race last year. My teammate actually won it. We got some good momentum coming from Daytona.

This is a veteran's track. You've got to learn how to save your tires as much as you can. They go away with you in a hurry. I was lucky enough to win a Busch race here a few years ago, 1998, so I think I know this track pretty well. I think we'll be in good shape. We're looking forward to having fun, one, but two, we've got one of the Morris (ph) people family coming in this weekend, so we need to put on a good show for her. So we feel a little tense right now, but we think we'll do fine.

PHILLIPS: Oh, I think you will too. Daytona 500, I noticed when Little Lee (ph) won, and you know, you were cruising right past him and you gave him a thumbs up, taking a look at what he did, what his father did, sort of the connection, I can't imagine that anyone was too bummed out that he won the race, just looking at the whole historical factor there. How did it kind of move you guys in a way?

SADLER: Yeah, I think it was, one, great for the support for him winning that race, you know, to carry on the Earnhardt legacy name at that track. But two, I think his guys deserve it. Last year he probably had the best car in the Daytona 500, had a battery go dead on him and kind of cost him a few laps. So for those guys to kind of come back and set the precedent again, the standard was good for their team. I mean, they had the fastest car pretty much all week. They deserved to win it. They've really raised the bar on that style of racing, the restrictive plate racing. And Junior just does a great job. He just understands the drafting, just like his dad did. He's probably five or six years ahead of the rest of us on knowing kind of what's going on.

I mean, his team definitely deserved it, and we've just got to go to work a little more when we go back. Me as a driver and my team, just work a little harder when we go back, maybe we'll have something for them next year.

PHILLIPS: All right, well, we have a little idea for you coming up in this next race. I mean, how is your sponsorship going? You feel pretty good?

SADLER: I think it's going great. I think it's going good. The guys keep me in focus, they keep me in M&M. So they pretty much take care of me. What kind of ideas have you got?

PHILLIPS: Well, you know, we were sort of tossing this around, you know, we had Jeff Burton with us a few weeks ago. You know, he's been kind of struggling with the sponsorship thing. You know, we suggested maybe a LIVE FROM... logo on his car. But then we were kind of checking out -- we're big M&M lovers here, so what do you think about this? We thought maybe, you know, a little K&M sponsorship? Miles and me there on the jersey? Does it work for you?

SADLER: You know what, I saw a picture of it. You know, you look pretty sexy on the front of the uniform like that.

PHILLIPS: Oh, goodness.

SADLER: That was pretty cool. We might have to work on that. I think we might pull some strings and get you on the front. I think you look good.

PHILLIPS: Outstanding. Now that I'm blushing, thank you very much. You're going to take me for another ride in that fast car of yours one of these days?

SADLER: I'll be glad to. I'm sorry that you got the speeding ticket since then, but actually, a little tip -- you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I've been running a lot better since then. So I'm sorry it's not going so good for you. It's working out better for me. We've got to do it again, though.

PHILLIPS: You've got a deal. And thanks for listening to the tips. All I told you to do was go faster, Elliot. That was it.

SADLER: She did. Go faster, turn left. That's probably the best tip I ever got.

PHILLIPS: We're going to be watching you on Sunday. We wish you the best of luck.

SADLER: Thank you so much. I appreciate you having me.

PHILLIPS: It's a pleasure, Elliot, always. Elliot Sadler.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com